10 Best Batman Villain Triumphs

By Gavin Eddings /

Batman can do no wrong. He is often cited as the best comic book character by everyone including movie lovers, comic newbies, and long-time comic fans like myself. Whether you discovered Batman through the fantastic animated series of the early 90€™s or became acquainted with the Caped Crusader through his more recent film outings, the fact remains that Batman is awesome. When you start getting into anything Batman, you know you are in for some Bat-action, Bat-drama, and Batman coming out on top. Batman can be thwarted, though. After all, he is just a rich guy with gadgets. He doesn€™t have a healing factor or super-senses, he€™s just a human. And as we all know, humans can sometimes be defeated. It€™s not always fun to admit that our favorite nocturnal defender of the night has been beaten before, but we have to face facts. Batman gets beat up sometimes. This list is dedicated to those times and the villains who got a little retribution against ol€™ Bats. And don€™t worry, this isn€™t going to be 10 things the Joker did to Batman. Oh no, other villains have been known the best The Dark Knight as well. Without further ado, here are the 10 Best Batman Villain Triumphs. Oh, and before I start, spoilers will be taking place, including one that is very recent...

10. The Joker Shoots Barbara Gordon In The Spine

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Let€™s start in some familiar territory and where most would assume I would begin: The Joker shooting Barbara Gordon. During the 80€™s (to some extent, today) Alan Moore could do no wrong. He had already penned Watchmen, V For Vendetta, and finished up a successful run on Swamp Thing. Then, in 1988, he had an idea for a Batman one-shot that would eventually become The Killing Joke. The whole purpose of the one-shot was to shed some light on the mysterious origins of who The Joker was before he became The Joker. Also, the core concept was that anyone could become just as crazy as The Joker just as long as they have €œone bad day.€ The Joker tries to turn Commissioner Gordon as mad as him by shooting his daughter (the then Batgirl, Barbara) in the spine, paralyzing her. This would be an event that would stay canon until The New 52 (in which they universe acknowledges The Killing Joke, but instead of making her paralysis permanent, she eventually recovers from it). This is a triumph because it showed that The Joker was willing to do anything in order to get a point across, even if it meant shooting a girl point-blank. And Batman would be powerless to do anything.